Macau is hitting it rich from gambling

Pedestrians cross a road in front of the Casino Grand Lisboa at night in Macau, China. Macau is the only Chinese special administrative region where gambling is legalised.Photo: Bloomberg

INTERNATIONAL - Casinos in the world’s biggest casino hub of Macau have extended a 14-month winning streak in September, with their revenue up 16.1%, priming for a bumper national holiday week, which is expected to bring strong numbers of visitor traffic into the southern Chinese territory.

Macau, a former Portuguese colony and now a special administrative region, is the only place in the country where casino gambling is legal. Government data on Sunday showed monthly gambling revenue was 21.4billion patacas (R35.08bn) in September, within analyst expectations of growth between 11 to 17 percent.

September saw the tail end impact from two typhoons in August, which caused massive destruction and unprecedented flooding.

Many casinos had shuttered for several days and had problems accessing fresh water and power, but big resorts on Macau’s Las Vegas style Cotai strip were left relatively unscathed.